Wapello County IA Archives Biographies.....Haw, Christopher 1848 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 5, 2013, 1:35 pm

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

CHRISTOPHER HAW.
Christopher Haw is prominently known in business circles of Ottumwa as the head
of the Haw Hardware Company, a wholesale concern with which he has been
continuously identified for the past forty-three years. His birth occurred in
Grant county, Wisconsin, on the 29th of March, 1848, his parents being John and
Mary (Lazenby) Haw, both of whom were natives of England, the former born in
Yorkshire on the 9th of November, 1806, and the latter on the 18th of February,
1808. They were married in that country in 1833 and crossed the Atlantic to the
United States in 1844, settling on a farm in Platteville, Wisconsin, to which
place they had driven by wagon from Milwaukee. John Haw died on the Wisconsin
farm in 1858, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1855. They were the
parents of nine children, as follows: William, a Methodist preacher, who died
leaving a family in Wisconsin; George, also deceased, who came to Iowa in 1865
or 1866 and was engaged in business here; Jane, the deceased wife of George
McMurray, an agriculturist residing in Evansville, Wisconsin; Simon, who has
passed away; John, a Methodist minister who makes his home in Wisconsin; Thomas,
who died in a hospital at Nashville while a soldier of the Union army during the
Civil war; Christopher, of this review; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Charles
Deselhorst; and Mary, the wife of Judge Charles Smith, who acts as judge of the
superior court in Superior, Wisconsin. The first five named were all born in
England and accompanied their parents to the new world, the ocean voyage
consuming six weeks. George, Simon, John and Thomas Haw participated in the
Civil war.

Christopher Haw acquired his education in the common schools and was graduated
from the Adams high school of Ottumwa, having come to this city in 1867.
Subsequently he made his way to Kansas City, Missouri, and for one year was
employed as clerk in the hardware store of G. W. Henry. He then returned here to
Ottumwa and in 1871, having saved the sum of five hundred dollars, became a
member of the firm of Henry & Haw, which was later changed to George Haw &
Company. Frank Simmons was subsequently admitted to the firm, which was
eventually incorporated under the name of the Haw & Simmons Company and on
January 1, 1914, became the Haw Hardware Company. The concern does a wholesale
business exclusively and in its management Mr. Haw has displayed splendid
executive ability, keen discernment and sound judgment, so that the trade has
constantly increased and his own success has been augmented.

On the 12th of October, 1875, Mr. Haw was united in marriage to Miss Clara E.
Bowen, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bowen. Her father is deceased, but
her mother still survives at the age of eighty-two years and makes her home in
Kansas. Mrs. Clara E. Haw passed away on the 12th of February, 1911, leaving the
following children: Edwin A., who is associated with his father in business;
Mabel Joy, Francis B., who is likewise associated in business with his father;
and Arthur B., a student in Harvard University. On the 4th of December, 1912,
Mr. Haw was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth (Lee)
Kercheval, the widow of Orren P. Kercheval. She is eligible to membership in the
Daughters of the American Revolution through her father, Joshua R. Lee, a
descendant of the Revolutionary Lees.

Mr. Haw gives his political allegiance to the republican party, exercising his
right of franchise in support of its men and measures. He is a valued member of
the Methodist church, has served as its trustee and Sunday school superintendent
and is now treasurer of the permanent fund. In 1896 he was elected by the Iowa
conference as a delegate to the general conference held at Cleveland and four
years later was sent to Chicago. In 1890 he was chosen Iowa delegate to attend
the international meeting of Good Templars in Edinburgh. For the past twelve
years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Iowa Wesleyan
University at Mount Pleasant. Wherever known he is held in high regard and most
of all where he is best known. He is a broad and liberal minded man of high
purposes and principles and his innate ability of character has gained for him
the honor and respect of all with whom he has come in contact, while his efforts
have been a potent force in the material and moral progress of the community.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914


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